Christ the new Adam, in the very revelation of the mystery of the Father and of his love, fully reveals man to himself and brings to light his most high calling (Gaudium et Spes, n.22).

Monday, 11 March 2013

2 C IN WC2N + SE21

More than a week ago now, Zero and I visited two exhibitions in London. Though separated by the River Thames and a stretch of inner London suburb, the exhibitions shared some common themes. Both of the painters involved painted religious pieces, and, in particular, altar pieces. And both artists are quite striking in their use of colour and of light and shadow.

The first visit was to the exhibition Barocci: Brilliance and Grace at the National Gallery, an exhibition that runs until 19th May. The two striking paintings on display here were Barocci's depiction of the Nativity and of the Visitation. The scene in the Nativity, is illuminated by the light emanating from the figure of Christ and reflected from that of the Virgin Mary.

The depiction of the Visitation is hung so that you can view it framed by the door as you enter the room, and it faces you across the room. Among the preparatory sketches displayed is one that, instead of placing the viewer in the street looking on as Mary and Joseph arrives (the viewpoint of the main painting), places them inside the house looking out towards the street. The contrast of the two possible viewpoints is quite thought provoking in terms of how we might understand the event of the Visitation. An added aspect of my experience of this painting was that it was painted for the church of the Chiesa Nuova in Rome, a church I had passed only days before.

Memories of a visit to the sanctuary at La Verna also contributed to my experience of a painting depicting the stigmatisation of St Francis - the jagged rock shown in the painting is reflective of that at the sanctuary.

A disappointing aspect of this exhibition is the lighting. Several times during my visit I found myself having to move, and view a picture from a different position, to avoid reflected glare from the paintings. When the play of light and of colour is so significant for the artist, it is unfortunate that this aspect of the display of his work is a little unsatisfactory. This particularly affected the painting of the stigmatisation of St Francis.

After lunch, it was then on to the Dulwich Picture Gallery to see an exhibition of paintings by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, paintings arising largely from his collaboration with Justino de Neve, a canon of Seville Cathedral. This exhibition, too, runs until 19th May. One of the striking aspects of this exhibition is the way in which paintings originally intended for the decoration of a church in Seville have been displayed in a way as close as possible to that of their original location. So the centre piece of the exhibition, Murillo's painting of the Immaculate Conception, faces you along the length of the hall as you enter, rather as if it is above the high altar at the far end of the church. Other paintings are displayed at a height, so that you look up to them as you would have done seeing them in the context of the Church.

The page on the Gallery website devoted to this exhibition includes a very good video account of the exhibition, in which you can see the effectiveness of the display of paintings such as the Immaculate Conception. It is worth looking at this page - but don't let it replace a visit to the exhibition itself, which is able to hold the attention in real space in a way that cannot be achieved in virtual space.

After visiting the gallery, Zero and I walked through Dulwich Village to catch the train back to central London. De rigeur on these kind of visits, we viewed the windows of the estate agents; but, in addition, we did a rough survey of the cars owned by the local inhabitants of this rather prosperous corner of south London. Only one "12" or "62" registration (ie new cars registered since March 2012) ... which led us to conclude that, though the residents of Dulwich might not suffer from housing poverty, they do suffer from a relative poverty as far as car ownership is concerned.

Prayer for England

We come to you, most holy Virgin. We are children of England, your dowry. Keep us faithful to the Gospel of Jesus your Son. Keep us in the unity of the Catholic faith and the power of hope.

Mother of love, protect all the families of England. Help them to stay together. Give them the happiness of loving and passing on life.

You are the Mother of Christ, our Saviour. Open our hearts to people who are suffering. May each of us offer signs of friendship and welcome to people who are less well off than us.

Faithful Virgin, help us in our lives. Help us to choose the way in life that Jesus wants us to follow. May we face the problems of life today, together with people of other Churches and religions.

You praised the great things done by the Lord. You sang about how God kept his promises to the people of Israel. We bless you because you believed in the Word of God and in his Love which lasts for ever and ever.

Disclaimer

The content of this blog reflects my own point of view on the matters discussed. It does not in any way reflect the views of any organisations to which I may have links.

The use of the word "Catholic" in the title "Catholic Commentary" is not intended to imply that this blog has received the consent of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brentwood, or any other ecclesiastical authority, for the use of the description "Catholic" (cf 1983 Code of Canon Law c.216). Such consent has not been sought, and the blog remains a personal initiative within the meaning of c.216.

I have for some time considered changing the name of the blog in the light of the provisions of c.216, but have preferred not to on the grounds that my use of the word "Catholic" is unlikely to be misunderstood.